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For several years now, one of the very sought after features on a credit card is a long 0% balance transfer deal, almost towards the exclusion of any other feature except maybe the headline rate of interest of the card. More recently although, balance transfers have become less well-liked, not least because of the intro of transfer handling fees, and there's now a new feature that increasingly more customers are considering to be associated with higher importance, namely cashback. According in order to recent research, over a fifth people now use a card that offers cashback or perhaps a rewards scheme, and the number has recently overtaken which of balance transfer users for the very first time. So why has a seemingly simple feature for example cashback displaced the once mighty balance transfer deal within our priorities? Credit cards have always suffered from the perception that they're expensive to use, with high curiosity charges and penalty fees - the reputation, it has
to be stated, that isn't altogether undeserved. Cashback cards give us the chance to turn that on its mind, and actually come out on top financially by utilizing our cards for everyday purchases. For each and every purchase you make, a cashback card will effectively provide you with a refund of a small percentage from the purchase price. In the early times of cashback, this percentage was so small it had been hardly worth considering - a 0. 25% rebate was virtually worthless to many people with moderate spending habits. Nowadays however, the figures are much more appealing, with a 3% rate not uncommon being an introductory offer. This kind of rebate is certainly worth having, and if you use your cashback card for all your day to day shopping, the amounts can mount up surprisingly quickly. What's much more, if you use your card purely like a convenient payment method and not as a way of borrowing, and repay your full balance each month, then you'll avoid paying any curiosity
fees or charges. This means that the money you 'earn' through cashback is completely free money - you're being paid simply to purchase your usual shopping with a card instead of with cash. Sounds good? Well, you can see why this kind of greeting card has increased in popularity, but a few couple of points to think about before trying to get an account. The main problem is that more often than not, you'll only receive your cashback one per year, either by check or refund for your requirements. This is fine for most individuals, but the cashback offer will be determined by you sticking to the credit contract. If, even accidentally, you make a late payment then you will have broken the terms of your agreement and can lose all the rebate you've been accumulating. Keeping up to date with your repayments is therefore much more essential than normal with a procuring card. Secondly, many cards feature a 'spending limit' over which no cashback is going to be earned. Most such limits
are pretty generous, but check to make sure your expected annual shelling out for the card is within this limit if you wish to maximise how much total rebate you will get. So, are cashback cards the long term? If you're a regular spender who are able to clear your balance in full each month, then they are very worthwhile certainly, but if you're planning to carry a balance then you may be better served by getting a card having a lower standard rate and no procuring or rewards feature.






Michael Strauss has been writing on personal finance for quite some time and currently writes for CardSense UNITED KINGDOM, your source for credit cards, cashback credit cards and 0% balance transfer offers.

View this post on my blog: http://creditcard.valuegov.com/is-cashback-the-future-for-credit-cards/
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